


is there magic in the air (or is it just everything you do)?

by serenitysebaeks



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, New Years, New Years Eve, New York, baekchen as best friends, chanbaek are a side ship, xiuyeol as best friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 18:54:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17249552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenitysebaeks/pseuds/serenitysebaeks
Summary: Jongdae went to New York to ring in the new year as something special. He didn't know he'd find something even better in Minseok.





	is there magic in the air (or is it just everything you do)?

**Author's Note:**

> Happy new year, wherever you are! I hope all of you have a wonderful 2019, and here's a little xiuchen for you to ring the new year in <3

Jongdae should’ve known not to trust Baekhyun when his friend had first told him the insane plan.

“Traveling to New York for New Year’s? Are you serious?” Jongdae had almost shouted. It had been hard to contain his excitement when Baekhyun told him, waving the tickets in his hand. Jongdae snatched them, eager to read them and unable to hide excitement when he saw them before his eyes.

“What, you didn’t believe me?” Baekhyun teased, that snarky glint in his eye matching his grin before he shied away as Jongdae move to smack him.

Jongdae couldn’t deny that he was excited for the trip. Going to New York for New Year’s was something he had always thought of in wonder when he watched the specials on TV every holiday season. Now that he had been out of college for a few years, he really didn’t have an excuse not to go. 

It wasn’t that he wasn’t adventurous, though Baekhyun liked to refute that, it was just that he was simply practical. His family always liked to come home for the holidays and a trip to New York was expensive. But what was he going to say when his best friend since university came to him with the tickets already in his hands?

The morning of their flight, Jongdae had had to barge into Baekhyun’s apartment himself, with the key he used weekly to make sure his friend wasn’t out of groceries and starving or some other form of self-inflicted disaster. Baekhyun may have been the miracle worker of the mission, but he definitely wasn’t the planner.

“Wha-?” Baekhyun trailed off as Jongdae pulled his body out of his bed. It was just like Baekhyun to not have woken up to his alarm. 

“Get ready,” Jongdae said shortly, leaving the small bedroom to walk into the apartment’s living space. 

The silence in the room was deafening compared to the usual loud sounds of video games that Baekhyun would be playing or shouts in frustration that filled the room at the same time. The apartment was still the same amount of messy as it always was though - Baekhyun hadn’t grown out of his university habits from when they were roommates. Remnants of last night’s dinner were still out on the counter and the carpet clearly hadn’t been vacuumed in a while.

Jongdae just ignored it and checked his phone. He didn’t want to check up on the work he might have missed from falling asleep early the night before, so he went on social media. He was typically bad at checking it, and was used to relying on Baekhyun for gossip on their mutual friends, both from university and the current ones they had now.

Baekhyun stumbled in a few minutes later, wearing a hoodie, ripped jeans, and a beanie, and his suitcase trailing behind him. Jongdae would have to be snarky later about the fact that Baekhyun actually packed himself, but it was too early in the morning for that.

They left the apartment building, moving out into the empty street with their luggage in tow. Jongdae was almost never the one to go out this late at night, leaving Baekhyun to be the party animal, but he didn’t like how eerily quiet the streets were, with not a single car in sight. It wasn’t the usual hustle of rush hour that he drove to work in.

They packed their suitcases in the trunk and Jongdae sat in the driver’s seat. The drive to the airport was about a 30 minute commute, though the hour was starting to get to Jongdae. He bickered with Baekhyun over directions before the other boy dropped out from the world again, snoring as Jongdae drove.

“Really, remind me why I thought we could travel together,” he muttered under his breath as they reached the highway that made up the majority of their drive. Jongdae groaned again as Baekhyun let out a particularly loud snore before he began fumbling with the buttons in the car, eventually playing some music softly enough as to focus on the road and not deserve his friend’s sleep.

His temper simmered down as he hummed to music, reaching the terminal in a better mood to hopefully not argue with Baekhyun too much longer. They were close enough to be family and he knew Baekhyun well enough to know that the boy probably stayed up late the past night anyway, and would be looking for a reason to snap at Jongdae with his tired state when he woke him.

Once they were awake and parked, the ride through the airport was relatively easy. They passed through security and luggage check-in and even managed to grab a bite to eat of breakfast before boarding their plane. 

The plane itself was typical, but Jongdae still found himself looking longingly at the first class seats; he knew those seats would recline more than a few inches and Jongdae was desperately wanting to catch some sleep during the flight.

They got settled in their seats, which were about as uncomfortable as Jongdae predicted. It was only about a three hour flight however, and when he turned to look at Baekhyun, he saw the other’s phone screen open on an article about New York travels and tips.

“‘Find some magic in the city’, huh?” Baekhyun quoted the article’s headline, turning to Jongdae with a small smile. Jongdae felt his heart skip a beat - it seemed to have occurred to him in that moment that this was really happening; he was going to New York with his best friend.

“You know you’re such a loser, Jongdae, you need some magic,” Baekhyun teased him again.

“Shut up, I can’t remember the last time you found any magic besides in your useless video games,” Jongdae shot right back and Baekhyun ignored him, scrolling on his phone through the article. Jongdae caught bits and pieces of it from his spot over Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“Maybe that’s because magic doesn’t exist,” Baekhyun said and Jongdae gave him a mock offended expression. 

“Hey, maybe you’ll prove me wrong,” Baekhyun obliged finally, turning off his phone. Jongdae watched as the screen went black.

“That would start the new year right, wouldn’t it?” Jongdae said with a wicked smile. This time it was Baekhyun’s turn to hit him.

The plane took off minutes later, and Baekhyun had gone silent in favor of sleeping more. He may have stopped talking, but Baekhyun’s words still rang in Jongdae’s ears as he looked out the window, watching them lift higher in the sky, with the backdrop of the sunrise lighting up the sky as the land drifted farther and farther.

Maybe Baekhyun was right. Maybe Jongdae could really find some of New York’s magic for this new year.

\---

“You really couldn’t have scheduled the flight a day earlier?” Jongdae asked.

They had touched down in New York only an hour ago and had gone into their hotel, a building just outside of Times Square. They had passed by in the cab and had seen, to their dismay, that there were already other people, bundled in various coats and layers to combat the icy winter weather, making their way down to wait for the ball to drop that night.

“How was I supposed to know people are crazy?” Baekhyun answered, exasperated. He was opening his suitcase on the single bed in their shared hotel room. 

“I don’t know who would willingly stand out in this damn cold,” Baekhyun muttered as he began layering himself. 

He looked strange in the long coat and scarf and gloves, which were covering up the sweater and jeans he was wearing. Jongdae was used to the other boy wearing mostly warm clothes; their native California was never cold anyway.

“You’re about to join them,” Jongdae reminded him, to which Baekhyun just muttered under his breath, probably along the lines of why did he think this trip was a good idea. Jongdae just laughed at his friend as he began putting on layers as well.

They were fortunate the hotel was close, as the two boys stepped out of the building minutes later, now properly dressed for the cold.

“Fucking hell,” Baekhyun cursed and Jongdae couldn’t disagree. The winds were icy and almost painful on Jongdae’s face, which was the only skin showing after he covered up. Jongdae grabbed Baekhyun’s hand and began to lead him down towards the square.

It was only 9 in the morning, but there was already a good crowd of a couple hundred people waiting on the streets. There were even barriers that were set up for the much larger mass of humans that would gather as the day continued.

Jongdae looked up at the top of the impossibly tall buildings, spotting the infamous ball ready to drop that night. He dragged Baekhyun, who was giving his own opinions on a spot to stand, over to find the best spot.

“Hey there’s a spot over here!” Jongdae heard and he turned in the direction of the shout. 

There were two figures standing across the street from them, pointing to a spot next to them from where they stood right against the barricade. They were both male, though one was clearly taller than the other. Jongdae pointed at himself, wondering why these strangers would call out to him. Sure enough however, they did nod and wave him over.

“Thank you so much!” Jongdae answered as him and Baekhyun ducked under the barricade, standing next to the strangers.

“No problem! What are your names?” The man next to Jongdae responded brightly. 

Jongdae turned to look at him and felt his eyes widen. The man was beautiful. He had soft features and his eyes were shining along with his blinding smile.

Jongdae took a second while his brain froze trying to recover.

“I-I’m Jongdae,” Jongdae said, not smoothly at all. He tried to ignore the blush creeping up his cheeks as he gestured to Baekhyun besides him.

“That’s Baekhyun,” he muttered. The man nodded, flashing him another smile and Jongdae was floored.

“I’m Minseok and this is Chanyeol,” the man introduced himself and of course his name was pretty to match his face. 

“Oh?” Baekhyun said loudly besides Jongdae. When he turned to look at his friend, he saw Baekhyun looking past him at the tall man next to Minseok named Chanyeol.

“Tell me your name again,” Baekhyun demanded, eyes still on him as he pushed Jongdae to the side, stepping past him to get closer.

Chanyeol saw the other boy advanced and his eyes widened. Jongdae hadn’t gotten a good glance at him until that moment, but he realized the reason behind Baekhyun’s advance - the taller boy was good-looking without a doubt as well.

“Well, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said when he had stuttered out his introduction. Baekhyun had made it right in front of Chanyeol now, Minseok having side stepped to give him passage. “Has anybody told you that you are walking eye candy?”

Jongdae snorted. His friend was notorious for shamelessly flirting, and he had witnessed it too many times to count at university parties and when they went out to bars. This was the first time he had watched Baekhyun do it without having at least had one drink, but figures that he was just as shameless when completely sober.

He couldn’t deny it was funny seeing Chanyeol’s eyes widen at the shorter boy’s comment too.

“He’s normally the one getting all the attention like that,” Minseok said and Jongdae turned, giving him an incredulous glance.

“Are you telling me you don’t get just as much?” Jongdae asked. It wasn’t until Minseok turned with the ghost of a questioning smile on his face that Jongdae realized what he had implied.

“Isn’t Chanyeol clearly the more handsome one?” Minseok asked. Jongdae almost scoffed. Of course he was doing this, making Jongdae have to say it out loud. He wasn’t going to be one to disappoint him, though.

“I wouldn’t agree with that,” Jongdae said. He had said it while staring at the street, too embarrassed to watch Minseok’s reaction. When he turned to meet his eyes a few seconds later, Minseok’s smile was just as beautiful and blinding.

\---

Spending an entire day just standing in one spot was an experience in itself.

Jongdae and Baekhyun were lucky enough to be spending the time next to Chanyeol and Minseok. They turned out to be fellow Californians and were both almost out of university, making them a few years younger than Jongdae and Baekhyun.

It was funny just to watch Baekhyun continue to make his shameless comments to Chanyeol, but the taller one warmed up to him quite quickly and seemed to even return the sentiments. It was easy enough to see that Baekhyun was wrapping the younger around his finger when come lunchtime, he ended up escaping into the crowd and coming back with food he paid for both of them. 

Keeping their spots was a fight in itself. They were starting to get squished closer as more people joined each hour. Their original roomy spot on the path was closing in, and Baekhyun has taken the chance to be almost sitting on Chanyeol’s lap. Jongdae on the other hand was being pushed closer to Minseok, something he definitely didn’t hate, but was making him shyer by the minute. Minseok had definitely noticed, but he was teasing him for it in his own way - fixing Jongdae’s hair when it was getting messed up by the wind and being way too touchy, even wrapping an arm around Jongdae’s waist and pulling him in closer.

The sky had finally turned black above them and it felt more packed than ever. The band on stage was about to kick off the night’s concert and was warming up, making it even harder to hear each other over the noises of the crowd and the now booming speakers in the square. The night’s beginning only made the cold air worse and Jongdae shivered, even through his many layers.

“Are you cold?” Minseok asked, his voice raised significantly in volume compared to when they had met that morning. Jongdae was about to shake his head but he watched in astonishment as the other man began stripping off his big puffy coat, revealing another smaller jacket under as he draped it over Jongdae’s shoulders.

“No, you can’t-” Jongdae began to protest, but it wasn’t reaching his actions. He began to reach for the jacket and pull it closer around him, thankful for the added layer of heat. Minseok laughed at him before he cut him off.

“I’m wearing thermal clothes under this as well, don’t worry about me,” Minseok explained. It seemed to be true in the sense that he hadn’t shivered at all as far as Jongdae knew. From the hours he had spent talking to him, he knew Minseok wasn’t going to allow him to argue further.

“Thank you,” Jongdae said, continuing to pull the jacket around him like a blanket. Minseok smiled and snaked his arm around his waist to pull him in, simultaneously protecting him from the crowd that was getting rowdier in anticipation and sharing his body heat. Jongdae couldn’t stop the blush creeping up on his face.

As performances went on through the night, Jongdae and Minseok ended up getting seperated from Baekhyun and Chanyeol. It had been a bit worrisome to Jongdae for about ten minutes before he spotted the two again in the mess of people, making out without shame.

“Well, they moved fast, didn’t they?” Minseok laughed next to him. Jongdae sighed. Baekhyun had left Jongdae to go kiss strangers before but his friend had proved to be even more insane than he originally thought by doing it in the middle of Times Square in New Year’s Eve. Though it seemed that the people around them were too engrossed in their own affairs to notice the pair.

“They couldn’t wait for the ball to drop, I guess,” Jongdae agreed.

Jongdae really hadn’t recognized most of the singers that night as they continued to perform, but it was alright. The people who performed at New Year’s didn’t normally fit into the music he listened to, anyway, and it seemed Minseok was the same. The two of them hadn’t gotten excited over any singers, except for when Shawn Mendes had come out on stage with a guitar and Minseok had started singing the words, making Jongdae sway along with him. It was both funny and fascinating to him that Minseok liked the extremely romantic lyrics that were being showered over the Times Square crowd, but he couldn’t exactly dislike it; especially not when Minseok’s singing voice was as lovely as it was.

The night continued on and the crowd had the same anticipating energy as more performances passed. They all knew it was getting closer to midnight and it was when one of the more energy-filled performances by a pop singer, complete with colored lights that were washing over the jumping crowd, was happening that Jongdae finally saw his friend again who had disappeared hours.

“H-Hey Jongdae,” Jongdae’s voice was called out and he felt a hand grab at his shoulder. He turned to meet his best friend’s gaze. Baekhyun had the dopiest smile on his face, his hair messy now that the hood of his coat had fallen off of his head and his lips were red, obviously kiss-bruised. Jongdae saw that the boy had a hand on Chanyeol as well, who was looking impatient to pull Baekhyun back into his arms again.

“I think you’re going to have the room to yourself tonight,” Baekhyun told him, cackling as Jongdae grimaced. He really didn’t need to know that but Baekhyun had already been dragged back again with Chanyeol, people pushing them apart before Jongdae had to witness them making out again.

“Ugh, I don’t want to go to my room after this, then,” Minseok answered next to him, his voice disgusted. Jongdae laughed again.

“Maybe you won’t have to,” Jongdae answered, the implication clear in his tone. The energy of the hour was getting to him as he let the thought slip from his lips. When he turned to gauge Minseok’s reaction, his eyes were filled with something dark that Jongdae couldn’t identify. Even in the biting and chilly air, Jongdae felt a wave of heat spread through him at that look. 

It was only five minutes until midnight now. The people around them had started to put on ridiculous glasses with the new year on them or wear hats or pull out noisemakers. It was hilarious, and the atmosphere only seemed to get more excited as the clock ticked by.

All eyes were at the sky, watching the shining silver ball on top of the building that was the centerpiece of the night. Its building was flashing lights as well, welcoming the New Year’s in big letters along with the countdown.

Jongdae had never heard a louder noise as the entire crowd began to count, a deafening shout with each number.

_“Ten!”_

Jongdae couldn’t help the smile that was on his face as he shouted along.

 _“Nine! Eight!”_

He turned to see Minseok and he could feel his heart skip a beat as the boy looked up at the ball that had begun its descent to ring in the new year.

_“Seven! Six!”_

Jongdae ignored the way his heart raced as he reached over and grabbed Minseok’s hand, squeezing it in anticipation.

_“Five! Four!”_

He turned back up to watch the ball, but he couldn’t ignore the way he felt Minseok’s eyes as he turned to look at him.

_“Three! Two!”_

They both watched as the ball finally sank below their view looking up, the new year almost upon them.

_“One!”_

Jongdae couldn’t think as he was suddenly turned and he felt Minseok’s lips on his own. He froze in shock as the people around them shouted “Happy New Year!”, but relaxed into the kiss.

Minseok’s lips were just as soft as he had imagined and Jongdae kissed him back passionately, deepening it as he wrapped his arms around his neck. He almost thought for certain that Minseok could feel his heart beat loudly through even their numerous layers of clothes, but he pulled him closer anyway. The new year had just started but here he was, kissing the man he had just met and admired the entire day in the middle of Times Square and Jongdae was thankful they had made the trip to New York for this moments. He felt more alive than ever.

When they pulled apart, Minseok was smiling at him and Jongdae didn’t know if it was in the heat of the moment or if he really looked even more beautiful as the fireworks were set off and he glowed under their light.

They looked up to watch them as they fired across the sky and Jongdae could hear Minseok’s laugh over their consecutive booms. He still had his arms wrapped around him and he pulled him in, wanting to drink him up more after the one kiss. Jongdae leaned forward and placed another teasing kiss on Minseok’s neck, biting the skin before he sucked on it gently. He couldn’t hear the sound, but he felt it through his skin as Minseok groaned at Jongdae’s tease.

“Can I take you up on the room offer?” Minseok said into Jongdae’s ear and it sounded somewhat huskier than his voice had been throughout the day, setting off another wave of heat through his body. Jongdae smiled and nodded before Minseok pulled him into another kiss.

The year had just started, but Jongdae thought that right now, maybe he had found some of the magic that New York had promised him.


End file.
